Diecasting machine manufacturers confirm leading position on global market

The global market volume for diecasting and gravity diecasting machines(1) declined by about ten per cent to €883 million from 2015 to 2016. Of the five major supplier countries, only deliveries from Italy (up 16 per cent) and Switzerland (up four per cent) saw any increase. In 2016, Italy was the largest exporter of diecasting machines, ahead of Japan and China, reports Dr Timo Würz of CEMAFON.

Higher market share for CEMAFON in 2016

In this context, the global market share of the CEMAFON members – Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland – increased to 45 per cent (up seven per cent), giving an export volume for the CEMAFON countries of €400 million, compared to €377 million in 2015. This contrasts with a global market share of 25 per cent for Japan (€219 million) and 10 per cent for China (€89 million).

Growth in exports to Europe, but deliveries to Asia down

Regional changes in exports by CEMAFON member countries show continued positive development on the European and North American markets, but a cooling in the growth markets in Asia.

More than half of the diecasting machines produced in the CEMAFON member countries were supplied to other destinations within Europe in 2016. At €212 million, the proportion represented by intra-European sales was up approximately 14 per cent year on year. This masks a double-edged change, however, exports from the CEMAFON countries to the EU28 grew 24 per cent to €189 million, whereas exports to the rest of Europe fell by 31 per cent to €22.5 million.

With a volume of €82 million, CEMAFON exports to Asia, in particular, were in decline in 2016 (minus 14 per cent), although this was less pronounced than the global change in diecasting machine exports to Asia (down 20 per cent). Deliveries to central and southern Asia fell the most (minus 62 per cent). Down by a lesser amount were exports to eastern Asia (down 10 per cent), while exports to south-east Asia picked up slightly (up six percent).

The volume of sales from the CEMAFON countries to North America in 2016 was 32 per cent higher than in the previous year, at €58 million, while the value of deliveries to the Near and Middle East quadrupled in this timeframe, to almost €12 million.

“Diecasting machines are needed, on the one hand, where there is a strong or strengthening middle class that demands high-quality, long-lasting consumables, like cars and electronic products, and on the other, where there is an established basis for such exports, or where that basis is being expanded or extended,” said Dr Timo Würz, general secretary CEMAFON. “As a result, the CEMAFON members, with their innovative machines and plant, are counting on a return to growth in exports to Asia in the medium term.”

CEMAFON (The European Foundry Equipment Suppliers Association) was founded in 1972. The members are the national European associations and thus major manufacturers of foundry machinery and plant, furnaces and products for the European foundry industry. The association represents the economic and technical interests of its members worldwide, provides information and creates a platform for the exchange of opinions on a European level. www.cemafon.org